The fabrication of numerous commercial products includes the step of applying a coating to a substrate in the form of a sheet or a web of indefinite length. For some applications it is desirable to have an overall uniform coating on the substrate, while in others it is desirable to apply a non-uniform coating in the form of, e.g., a multiplicity of stripes. The non-uniform coating may be applied directly to the substrate or to an intermediate surface with subsequent transfer to the substrate, or may be applied superimposed over an earlier uniform coating on the substrate. For example, the use of needle tubes to apply stripes of a coating material to a coating roll has been described, for example in Maier, PCT Patent Publication WO2011/087657.